For men to have the same university participation rate as women, an extra 25,000 males should have been admitted this year, it was disclosed.

The findings are mirrored for men and women from the poorest backgrounds. The proportion of men from deprived areas going on to university increased from 12 to 16 per cent over the last 15 years, but women jumped from 13 to 22 per cent.

It reflects recent trends in exam results. At the moment, girls are ahead of boys in assessments taken at the age of five and extend their lead throughout primary and secondary school.

Some 70.5 per cent of GCSEs taken by girls gained at least a C last year, compared with 63.6 per cent of boys.

John Selby, Hefce director for education and participation, called the overall results "significant".

"They show a substantial increase in the participation rate of those from the most disadvantaged backgrounds, with, recently, a narrowing of the gap between them and those from the most advantaged backgrounds.

"It is also encouraging that the gap in participation between men and women, which once appeared to be growing inexorably, seems to have stopped widening in recent years.

"Nevertheless, the participation differences between the most advantaged and the least advantaged, and between women and men, remain very large."